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Malay language

NameMalay
NativenameBahasa Melayu
بهاس ملايو
StatesMalaysia (as Malaysian and local Malay)
Indonesia (as Indonesian and local Malay)
Brunei (as Melayu Brunei)
Singapore
East Timor (as Indonesian)
Philippines (mostly in Tawi Tawi and Sulu) 
Thailand
Burma
Cambodia
Vietnam
Sri Lanka
Cocos Island
Christmas Island
Speakers40 million native (incl. 23 million Indonesian); approx. 180 million total (90% Indonesian)
FamilycolorAustronesian
Fam2Malayo-Polynesian (MP)
Fam3Nuclear MP
Fam4Malayo-Sumbawan
Fam5Malayic
Fam6Malayan
Fam7Malay
Dia1Malay dialects
Stand1Malaysian
Stand2Indonesian
Stand3Brunei
ScriptMalay alphabet (Latin script; official in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia; co-official in Brunei) Jawi (Arabic script) (co-official in Brunei and Malaysia). Historically written in Pallava, Kawi and Rencong
NationMalaysia
Indonesia
Brunei
Singapore
MinorityIndonesia (Local Malay enjoys the status of a regional language in Sumatra apart from the national standard of Indonesian)
Thailand (Malay is the language of the Muslim community in Southern Thailand)
AgencyDewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Institute of Language and Literature;
Majlis Bahasa Brunei � Indonesia � Malaysia (Brunei � Indonesia � Malaysia Language Council � MABBIM) (a trilateral joint-venture)
Iso1ms
Iso2bmay
Iso2tmsa
Iso3msa
Lc1zsm|ld1=Malaysian|ll1=Malaysian language
Lc2ind|ld2=Indonesian|ll2=Indonesian language
Ld3Balinese Malay|lc3=mhp
Ld4Brunei|lc4=kxd|ll4=Melayu Brunei
Ld5Cocos Islands Malay|lc5=coa
Ld6Larantuka Malay|lc6=lrt
Ld7Makassar Malay|lc7=mfp
Ld8North Moluccan Malay|lc8=max
Mapcaption         
NoticeIPA

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Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia (as Malaysian), Indonesia (as Indonesian), Brunei (as Melayu Brunei) and Singapore (as the national language and one of four official languages of Singapore). It is spoken natively by 40 million people across the Malacca Strait, including the coasts of the Malay Peninsula of Malaysia and southern Thailand, Riau province, the eastern coast of Sumatra, and the Riau Islands in Indonesia, and has been established as a native language of part of western coastal Sarawak in Borneo.

In Malaysia, the standard language is called Bahasa Malaysia "Malaysian language". In Singapore, Brunei, southern Thailand, and the southern Philippines it is called Bahasa Melayu "Malay language", and in Indonesia it has undergone a series of standardizations and modifications to form what is now called Bahasa Indonesia, "Indonesian language", and furthermore designated as Bahasa Nasional "National Language" and Bahasa Persatuan/Pemersatu "Unifying Language/Lingua Franca". However, in areas of central to southern Sumatra (mainly Riau) where the language is indigenous, Indonesians refer to it as Bahasa Melayu and designate it as one of their regional languages.


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